I woke expecting a message from the Duke.
The first message concerned a pay reference.
Nessa's representative wanted the entry supporting the final month in the household extract. The total showed the amount withheld, but the underlying reference led to a later account page that had not been included. The hearing officer needed it to check whether the charge had ever been reversed or the payment released.
Six months of figures had fitted neatly into my head. They fitted less neatly into the actual ledger.
I sent the request to the steward, quoting the reference rather than asking for a general reassurance that the account was correct.
Then I checked the rest of the morning's messages.
An equipment notice. A changed class time. Nothing from my father.
The absence was not comforting. It was also not something I could spend the whole day staring at without becoming ridiculous.
I left the desk and tried to dress.
